00:00:03.289 - 00:00:23.590

And ok, it's recording. Um ok, so I'll just get into it. Um We watched a documentary about the tubs fire just to kind of learn more about it. Um Which it was obviously really sad. Um I know a lot of like, structures burned this, the tubs

00:00:23.600 - 00:00:37.819

fire was the biggest fire. I know you guys have had a few fires up here. Yeah. Yeah, there was like a, I honestly like, I couldn't even probably tell you the difference between all of them because there was so many, so many. Yeah. And like a

00:00:37.830 - 00:00:54.849

pretty, like every year, right? Even like leading up to COVID. I know. Yeah, there was a um so do you remember anything um about the night before the fire like that Sunday before? Um on the documentary people were saying it was like a really weird night.

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Like it was really windy. Do you remember anything leading up to it? Yeah. Um I remember I was at my house, like with all my roommates and I think it was like a Sunday night and um I do remember it was like super, super windy out

00:01:09.970 - 00:01:23.919

and like, it was just like really weird. Like, I don't know, the vibes just felt kind of off and I remember telling my roommates because I'm from Southern California. So I'm used to fires and, like, when it gets really windy like that, it's usually fire weather.

00:01:23.930 - 00:01:39.550

And I remember telling them I'm like, I feel like something bad's gonna happen. Um, yeah. And, yeah, so I remember it was like, super windy and, like, we stay, ended up staying up really late. And, yeah, it was just like, eerie. It was weird. Yeah. So

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then when did you first hear that there was a fire? Um, so I actually went to bed that night and this is kind of weird, but I had a dream that night that Sonoma State was like, on fire and it was like, it was super weird.

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Um, and like, basically we were like the vacuum meeting and stuff in my dream and then I think I got a call at like four in the morning. It was like really early. Um, from my little, I was in a sorority. So she was like my

00:02:10.940 - 00:02:26.679

little, but my best friend, um, in college, she called me at like four in the morning and she was like, um, it, there's like, she was like, there's fires, like there's a fire that's breaking out. It's like, really big. Um, like we need to leave and

00:02:26.690 - 00:02:40.250

I was like, what the heck is going on right now. Um But at that point I don't even think, I mean, the fire wasn't necessarily like close to Roar Park. It just was like nearby. I honestly, I can't remember exactly like where it started. But I

00:02:40.259 - 00:02:53.770

just remember she, like, called me and woke me up and she was like, we need to leave and I was like, what's going on? Yeah. So at that point, you like couldn't see the fire physically but obviously you knew it was happening. Yeah. OK. And you,

00:02:53.779 - 00:03:11.910

so you were living, were you on campus or off campus? In Roar Park? Um I was off campus. Um I lived in like a B section. Ok. Ok. Got you. I'm like sort of familiar. Um ok. And then did you decide to evacuate or did you

00:03:12.380 - 00:03:31.339

stay? Um I ended up staying for a while just because like at the time I like, I'm from L A so it was a really far drive and my roommates weren't leaving. So I was like, I'll just stay up here. Um And also like that Riley's

00:03:31.350 - 00:03:44.600

from there. So like my family lives up there, my extended family. Um So I kind of was just like waiting um to see what was gonna happen because we didn't, I don't think we fully understood like how bad it was gonna get at that point. Um

00:03:44.839 - 00:04:02.070

So I think I stayed for maybe like a couple more days after that after it started. Ok. Ok. And did Sonoma State like send out any emails or like any text messages to let students know what was going on. Oh, no, that, that's a good question.

00:04:02.080 - 00:04:14.830

I think so. I'm pretty sure we got like, a mass text message from them and I don't really remember going to classes that we, I don't even remember going to class on Monday if that even was the day. I think it was, but it was there,

00:04:15.029 - 00:04:27.660

it was Monday. Yeah. Yeah. I don't even remember going to class that day. Like, all I remember is like the fires broke out and we ended up staying up there in my house and we kind of were just watching the news. Like, I just remember sitting

00:04:27.670 - 00:04:45.350

in my living room just like watching everything kind of unfold. Um, and I think they probably just canceled classes because of like the air quality. Right. Yeah, I think, I think in the documentary or not, sorry, not the documentary. Oh, my goodness. I think my teacher

00:04:45.359 - 00:05:04.750

in class had mentioned something like, um, that campus was closed for like, maybe a week and a half or two weeks after maybe. Yeah. Um Yeah, that's crazy. Um So then when you did leave, where did you go? Did you go home to L A? Yeah,

00:05:04.760 - 00:05:20.739

I ended up driving back home. Um, and I think I stayed home for like a week because everything was like, shut down. And, um, I do remember by the time I left though, like the entire sky was like gray, like it was just filled with smoke.

00:05:20.750 - 00:05:39.540

Um, and there was like, it was really weird. It felt like an apocalypse honestly because nobody was outside, like, nobody was driving like, it was just completely dead. Um And I also remember like, getting freaked out about leaving because, um, I don't know, like, where you're

00:05:39.549 - 00:05:51.309

from, but like, in L A, like the freeways are huge, there's like five lanes but up there there's like two lanes and I remember thinking like, I was gonna get stuck because the traffic was going to be so backed up trying to like get out of

00:05:51.320 - 00:06:06.140

there. Um, which I don't even remember if there was a ton of traffic leaving but um, I do remember like going to get gas and it just was like dead. Like there was no, like literally no life outside, no one driving. So that's scary. That kind

00:06:06.149 - 00:06:20.519

of reminds me of like COVID when, when all that was happening. I remember feeling that way. Yeah, it honestly it was like that except the sky was just like covered in smoke. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I'm from um San Luis Depo. So I'm used to like

00:06:20.529 - 00:06:34.579

small town but I can imagine just like being from L A. How weird it would feel to like go from, you know, big city to Santa Rosa where it's a lot smaller and you probably are like, oh my gosh, how are the roads gonna be? Am

00:06:34.589 - 00:06:48.950

I gonna be able to get out of here. Right. Yeah. Um, but I'm maybe leaving, um, a couple, I wonder how it was like leaving the day of, um, if it was different. Um Not that I blame you for leaving later obviously since it was in

00:06:48.959 - 00:07:06.040

Santa Rosa and not Roar Park. Um So if you wouldn't mind just telling me like when you did go back, end up going back to school, um you know, on campus was there like, how was the transition? Was it pretty much normal right away from the

00:07:06.049 - 00:07:23.480

get go or was it, did it take some adjusting? Um Honestly, I, I don't like 100% remember like what it was like going back to class and stuff. I think at least for me, like, it was a little difficult and I'm sure Riley told you this

00:07:23.489 - 00:07:40.119

or maybe she didn't but her um her dad's house ended up burning down. And so I think that was like, just hard, like as a family because it was like, just really sad and we had like a lot of family heirlooms in that house that we

00:07:40.130 - 00:07:55.160

lost. And so I think like, just like knowing that all of that had happened and like, it, it wasn't just like the fires that were up there. Like it was also, even though I'm not from there, it just like, still felt really personal and close to

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home. And so I think, like going back up there, it was a little bit difficult because I kind of had a hard time with that and, um, it just was, like, really sad, like, because so there was so much damage and, like, at least a lot

00:08:08.799 - 00:08:28.540

of my friends from Sonoma, like, are from northern California and kind of close by. So it just felt like, I don't know, a lot of people were affected by it. And, um, yeah. Yeah. And I can't remember like, I feel maybe I, I also worked at

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the Santa Rosa Mall at the time and I remember like the mall was closed and like, when we went back to work, um they had like these giant like fans inside of the mall and like inside our store that were, it was like blowing out all

00:08:41.059 - 00:08:56.559

the smoke because like the smoke, I just like, infiltrated everything and so everything just like, smelled like smoke. And I can't remember if the school was like that too. I think it might have been. But um yeah, like just basically anywhere you went inside it just

00:08:56.570 - 00:09:13.580

like reeked of like smoke and it took like weeks to like get it all out. And um I think even driving back up there was just like, like so much of it was burnt and like just black and that was just kind of sad to see,

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especially with like how green it is up there. Um So I think it was more just like going back up there. It was just, like, sad and I don't necessarily remember the transition, it more. So it's just like seeing all these people kind of having to

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restart their life because they lost everything. I think that was really hard too. Especially, like, being at work. Like, I worked in retail and so, like, a lot of people were coming in and, like, trying to replace a lot of their stuff and it just was

00:09:40.299 - 00:09:55.299

like, I don't know, it was very sad. Yeah. Yeah, I was actually gonna ask if you had been working at the time and if your job was affected. So obviously um the mall didn't burn down but still having like those fans and stuff. Like that's weird.

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Um Yeah. Wow. And then yeah, to see people come in and have to replace things and which, which store did you work at? You don't mind me asking? Yeah. Um I worked at Victory Secret so it was like a girl store but people were like, coming

00:10:09.630 - 00:10:23.159

in and trying to replace everything, you know, like I think too it was just kind of eye opening because like, you don't really think of like the kind of stuff in that store is like super important but it, it's something like that's so minor but like

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kind of, I don't know, makes people happy, like people enjoy going in there and stuff and so it was just like all these people coming in that had lost everything and they were kind of just trying to find like that, this little piece of light, I

00:10:35.429 - 00:10:51.130

guess. Or like, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I like to shop there so I can imagine like, that probably made them feel better for a little bit, I guess, to maybe forget what went down. Um, and Riley, she, I don't think she mentioned to me about her

00:10:51.140 - 00:11:10.599

dad's hung, burning down actually, if she did, I don't remember her really like going into detail about it but where we live now it's, is it pronounced wiki wikia? I think um I don't know. Where do you guys live? We live. So we are in Santa

00:11:10.609 - 00:11:23.270

Rosa. Um but I thought maybe it's Larkfield. I wanna say, I don't know. But um I think she did point out the neighborhood her dad used to live in but I don't remember her saying his house burned down. So I'm gonna ask her about that when

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she gets home. Um That's, yeah, that's crazy. I can imagine. Like you said, it's sad to see all of these people like having to rebuild their lives and then especially for you because your family is from here. Yeah, it was like, yeah, it was very sad

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and like um my cousins who are Riley's like half siblings, their mom's house also burned down. So it was just like a lot in like a very short amount of time and it just happened so quickly. And I also remember like trying to get in contact

00:11:57.530 - 00:12:10.460

with my family and like, nobody was responding to me. So I was like, freaking out your family or your family in L A my family up there. Like I think I was trying to get in contact with my uncle who's Riley's dad and like, I just

00:12:10.469 - 00:12:32.340

couldn't get a hold of anybody which like, rightfully so it was probably really chaotic but I just was, like, concerned. Um, but, yeah, it was just was, like, very scary. Oh, my gosh. Um, well, let me see. Did you feel like, um, you know, being back

00:12:32.349 - 00:12:49.190

at school because how, how much longer did you guys have to be, like, was it in the beginning of the semester or the end or middle? That's a good question. I feel like when did that happen? I keep thinking October because, like, that's usually when fire

00:12:49.200 - 00:13:04.820

season is. Oh, yeah, it was October. I think it was like, yeah, a 7 October. Septem. Ok. Yeah, I was like, I feel like it was October. Yeah. So, I guess it was first semester and then we basically, like, I think with my classes they kind

00:13:04.830 - 00:13:18.659

of just like, because we've missed so much school. They just, like, almost cut out like a part of the curriculum of our classes and just, we're like, we're just gonna move on to the next thing or, like, we're just gonna cut the class short essentially. And,

00:13:18.669 - 00:13:34.109

like, still finish on time. I think that was like, the only thing I remember about, like, my classes, um, is that they had to, like, cut some of the material that we were supposed to learn that semester. Yeah. Totally. Just forget about it basically. Like, what

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can you, what can you do in that situation? Nobody could say that. Um, and then did you, do you remember, like, any, um, what's it called? Any sort of like resources that Sonoma State might have um offered for students like, I don't know, counseling or anything.

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Um I would like to think that they offered counseling to people, but I, I honestly, I don't remember and they might have um but I didn't realize if they did. Yeah. Ok. That's ok. Um Well, that's pretty much all I'm um curious about. Um Is there

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anything else that you want to like share or um mention? Um I don't think so. Ok, I think that's all. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you meeting with me. I know it's like a heavy topic. I know it was a long time

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ago too. So it's hard to remember sometimes all of the details. Um But thank you for letting me interview you. I, yeah, I was really struggling finding people. Yeah, of course. I hope it was helpful. It was so helpful. This is awesome. Thank you so much.

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Um If you ever come into town me, you and Riley should hang out.